The rhythm of madness
by Thecricketsarecalling
Summary: Why Rhodes in Day Of The Dead lost his mind.
1. Chapter 1

_**In the last final moments of consciousness as Rhodes laid dying on the ground a beautiful rhythm played in the back of his mind. Laying there feeling bitter and half crazed he suddenly felt very sorry for the things he had done. Knowing there was no going back he decided to die the way so many thought he would. Watching the rotting stinking monsters rip him apart, he felt blood gurgle deep in his throat before he watched them drag his lower half away.**_

"_**Choke on 'em!" C…Chh..oke on 'em!"**_

_**Then everything because numb and began to fade to black. Shutting his eyes he died seconds later, all the while the beautiful rhythm kept playing in his head.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Five months earlier. **

If anyone would of guessed what really made Rhodes loose his mind the answer would be easy. Sarah, John, and McDermott would later discuss this on the island they later came to live on. At first McDermott opted that it was because of the pressure, cabin fever is one must say so. He thought it was pure and simple fear that did it. The more time that went on in the bunker, the more he began to see that his control was slipping away. Sarah meanwhile said it was because of what Dr. Logan did. Seeing his own men, who he did indeed try his hardest to project being used as bait for his test subjects, she swore that's what pushed him over the edge. But in the end John, who was sitting back by the fire on the beach said it plain and simple. He agreed that both McDermott and Sarah were right to some degree…but what really made Rhodes loose his mind was loosing the only woman he would ever love.

Alex.

Sitting back they all agreed. John explained that after her death Rhodes simply didn't care if he lived or died, and tragedy took many good people with him.

The operation had been set up in Florida. At that time the world was a scary place to be in. It seemed almost over night that everything had happened. Within the end of the month the government and military couldn't control things. There were riots in the street and a lot of innocent people died. Half of the Earth's population died within eight weeks, panic was everywhere as more and more of those things began taking over the country. The military and scientific team started off with seventeen men. Sarah being the only woman, recurred from Pittsburg. Tension hung thick in the air but still things were okay…that was back when they still had contact with the rest of the world.

One an early spring morning in mid March, three years since everything had first started happened…they rescued Alex.

Those three long years in the underground bunker had been hard for everyone. Slowly they watched as each month slipped away as the world began to get darker and darker. Soon almost all communication was lost, and nobody had any idea what was going on out there. It had been almost three months since they got anything on the radio, and each time they went on sweeps in the chopper they found nothing but empty cities and towns.

The dead had in fact taken over.

In that time they had also lost some of their own.

Dr. Wellstone was the first, part of the scientists who had been assigned to go down in the bunker and research what was going on with this epidemic. He was a likable man in his late thirties who was brilliant when it came to the same research Sarah was studying. Within only seven months he was bitten by accident while in the lab one day. Sarah got a first hand look on what did happen when the infection spread. Within three days he had changed and Steel put him out of his misery. This cast a dark shadow on the work they were doing and everyone became much more careful.

The next after that was Eastman, a solider in the military team. He came down with a terrible flu nearly a year since they had set up down there and died of a high fever despite the many attempts to save him from Sarah and Fisher. This caused tension between the soldiers and scientist. Often remarks were made about them not trying hard enough and letting Eastman die.

Then just that past summer Armstrong.

He was a friendly somewhat cocky solider who didn't seem old enough to be in the military. One night everyone was awoken by a gun shot. Running in, Sarah found him sitting up in bed, his pistol laying in his limp hands. Cooper found a suicide note, claming he knew they were dead anyways and didn't see the point anymore. This shook everyone up, Armstrong was the least likely to do such a thing, yet it happened.

Now spring had came and there was an unspoken war going on between the military and scientist. Time was passing slowly as they began to loose contact from the rest of the world completely. Cabin fever was indeed setting in and the soldiers were allowed to act like animals and push everyone around as Cooper watched and barked orders.

Sarah tried her hardest not to stay in the middle of it. She hated being the only woman down there and had started up a comforting relationship with Miguel, one of the younger soldiers from the base. She worked nonstop, trying to forget the terrible nightmares she was having each night. Desperately searching for a cure, Sarah knew hope was starting to fade.

Logan kept busy in his lab, indulging in strange experiments and being known as the freak out of the group.

John and McDermott kept their distance and worked the chopper and radios. Sarah had befriended them yet was completely puzzled by their ways.

The soldiers usually started up fights and taunted everyone as madness began to build.

But that early spring morning they were all stunned during a routine chopper sweep of the coast. That morning Sarah, John, McDermott, and Miguel all rode silently, looking down at the deserted cities and vast empty swamp land. It seemed hopeless.

Until…Alex came.

On their way back, after a long and wasteful morning Sarah was the first to spot it. Closer towards the beaches, North she saw something down below.

"Stop!"

She yelled, looking out the window. Within minutes they landed. Miguel looked around nervously, clutching his rifle.

"I'm not so sure about this…"

Before he could say another word, Sarah grabbed her gun and ran out. The beach was deserted and the tide was in. Running across the sand she then saw it and nearly gasped.

There was a young woman dressed in a torn blouse and faded jeans. She had beautiful long dark hair and sparking blue eyes. She was kneeling down in the sand holding a young man, who was dying in her arms. Running over, Sarah couldn't believe it.

She hadn't seen anyone other then their team in three long years.

The girl didn't seem scared or suspired to see her. Instead she looked up with tired tear filled eyes. Birds cried overhead.

"He died a half an hour ago…help me bury him?"

Sarah saw she was in shock, and looked as though she had been living outdoors for some time now. Sighing she kneeled down in front of her and saw the girl was gently brushing the boy's hair away from his face.

"I'm Sarah…I'm from a military base a few miles from here…"

The girl looked up, almost as though she was sleeping with her eyes open. Sarah noticed the dark circles under each eye, she looked as if she hadn't slept in days.

"I'm Alex…this was Ryan…my boyfriend."

Sarah looked down at the boy she held in her arms, he looked to be eighteen or nineteen. His eyes shut and his jersey he wore splattered with blood.

"Was…was he attacked?"

Alex slowly shook her head before sniffling, around this time the chopper's engine had shut off and both John and McDermott began walking towards them. Miguel meanwhile stayed inside the chopper, watching with his gun aimed.

"No…we were on one of the back roads this morning when a jeep full of men with guns started firing at us. It was the first people we had seen in nearly a year…I tried yelling but they just kept shooting…"

Her voice began to break up before she bent her head and kissed the dead boy's forehead. Looking up at Sarah her eyes glittered with tears.

"Right away we knew it was those survivors we had heard about…the gangs you know? We started running but they followed up into the field and kept shooting, that's when Ryan got hit. We rolled into a ditch and hid until they left…they kept circling around, probably looking for me…"

Sarah looked at the boy and felt a horrible sense of dread. He seemed so young, yet laid dead in his girlfriends arms completely motionless. Alex stroked his hair and continued.

"He was able to stand up and we wandered down here…there weren't any of those things and we lost our guns while running…I knew how much he liked the beach so I brought him here…"

That's when her voice trailed off and she began crying harder, her head lowered. By then Miguel slowly began approaching them, his gun still raised. John and McDermott by then stood behind Sarah listening. Finally Sarah reached out and softly touched Alex's arm. Looking up as tears spilled down her face Sarah warmly smiled, trying to show her that she meant no harm.

"I'll help you bury him…"

"Sarah those things might be around…"

Miguel started as he walked over, instead Sarah ignored him.

An hour later they had buried him on the beach. Standing now at the freshly made grave, Alex stared down before looking over at Sarah, her eyes were beautiful yet tired.

"You…you said you're from the military?"

Sarah smiled.

"I'm a scientist…there's a team of us…we've been living in an underground bunker for the past three years."

"How many of you are there?"

"Counting us? Fourteen."

Alex looked back at the grave before sighing, her face was dirty and deeply tanned.

"Can I come with you guys?"

"Of course darling…"

John said with a warm smile, right away his arm went around her thin shoulders and began leading her to the chopper. Sarah started to follow before Miguel pulled her aside and spoke in a lower voice.

"You sure about this?"

"She's just a kid Miguel, looks as if she's been though hell."

On the ride back Sarah sat beside Alex and asked her questions.

Alex was nineteen and originally from Key West, where she had been living when everything first happened. She explained how the army wanted to shut down the island a few months into it and how she had watched her family gunned down when they refused. She told them how she had ran away with Ryan her boyfriend from school and how they had been traveling and moving from place to place since then. She told Sarah how they met up with a lot of people and at one point there was seven of them. She told them how over the past few years how Ryan and her survived, got hold of guns, and mostly moved around at night. She explained how everyone they knew died, and how they were on their own since.

Sarah couldn't believe how such a young teenager was able to survive all of this, and keep her sanity. Alex explained how further near the swamps the zombies were more spread out and how easy it was to move around once it got dark. She told them about how they lived in deserted hotels or in houseboats. How they searched for foot and shelter when it called for it. When Miguel tried asking more about the jeep full of men who attacked her and her boyfriend, Alex simply stared out the window, watching the passing land.

"All that's left is a few of us and the rest of the undead…"

Miguel glanced at Sarah before they began to land. Right away panic filled Alex's voice.

"Jesus look at them!"

"Don't worry they can't get in."

Alex watched the thousands of zombies on the other side of the fence that surrounded the complex. Landing, right away Steel and Rickles who were playing cards in the shade ran over.

"Holy fucking shit you found someone!"

Sarah shot them a dirty look.

"Give her some room guys come on!"

Sarah pushed past them as she helped Alex get out. Squinting Alex looked around at the fenced in area and broke out in goosebumps. Right away Steel and Rickles eyed each other while looking Alex up and down. Sarah felt sick watching them. Quickly she lead Alex over to the elevator. Having another woman around made her feel ten times better, and less alone in all this madness. Steel and Rickles exchanged looks before laughing and walking over. Alex glanced nervously back at them before Steel winked at her. Looking back her eyes drifted over to the thousands of zombies that crowded around the fences. Beeping began filling the air before the platform began to lower.

Cooper and the rest of the men were having breakfast in the mess hall when Sarah and the others brought Alex in. Right away Miller and Torrez stood back shocked before Cooper turned and froze. Sarah's arm went around Alex's shoulders and lead her across the big empty room where all the men were sitting.

Cooper right away stood up, nearly knocking his chair over. Sarah for a brief moment noticed the utter look of shock on Rhodes' face as he sat at the table filling out paperwork. Sarah hadn't gotten along with Rhodes. He was Cooper's right hand man and often barked orders at everyone and treated the others as though they were nothing. Sarah knew the military could do awful things to people…but for Rhodes it was his entire life. Sarah saw he couldn't take his eyes off Alex.

"Cooper…we found her twenty miles back near the shoreline on our way back."

Cooper stepped forward, his narrow eyes studying Alex before he held out his hand. For the first time ever he seemed half human as he tried to welcome her.

"I'm major Cooper…these are my men…"

Cooper didn't even bother in turning as he simply motioned behind him. Alex shook his hand, still looking uncertain.

"Alex…Alex Foster."

"Well Alex you're the first person we've seen in…Jesus nearly three years."

Alex forced a weak smile before Sarah stepped closer.

"She was attacked, her boyfriend was killed."

Cooper looked back at Alex, almost uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry to hear that hon, but don't you worry…you're safe now."

Cooper then told Sarah to show Alex one of the rooms where she could bunk and perhaps go through the bins and find some clean clothes. Guiding her away Sarah could all ready hear the low whispers behind them. All the while Rhodes kept staring at her.

On their way to the bunks Sarah brought Alex over to Fisher's lab and introduced the two of them. Sarah had become best friends with Fisher since their stay here and found him somewhat attractive. She knew if things weren't getting so serious with Miguel, Fisher would be the perfect guy.

Fisher was stunned to meet her yet was always friendly and charming. Seconds later Dr. Logan came in with blood splatters across his lab jacket. Standing in the doorway he nearly gasped.

"You found someone?"

Turning Sarah tried to smile before seeing Alex's eyes go to the blood stains on Dr. Logan's jacket. Shaking hands Dr. Logan was a complete gentlemen and asked Alex a few questions on how she had been able to survive this entire time. Raising interest after Alex described more of the populated area for the zombies and some of the horrible things she had seen. Glancing over at Fisher Sarah knew Alex was most likely exhausted and a little overwhelmed by everything Dr. Logan was asking. Excusing them, Sarah lead Alex away trying not to laugh.

"Are they all like this?"

Alex asked, laughing Sarah told her she had a lot to learn down here.

A few hours later Alex was settled down in a room down the hall from Sarah's. Both woman had gone into storage and found more then enough clothes for Alex. Showing her around Sarah tried her hardest to fill her in on everything. She talked briefly about what Fisher, Logan, and herself were working on. Discriving the soldiers she gave Alex a fair warning telling her that they all talked a good game but couldn't be trusted. Alex agreed before Sarah showed her where the showers were so she could freshen up. By the end of the night Alex was settled and dressed. Still seeming a little scared she explored the place with Sarah and talked between each other. Sarah told her if she ever needed to trust anyone John and McDermott were the people. Taking her to the mess hall for dinner she made sure she sat with them while the men simply stared while chewing with their mouths open.

Cooper asked most of the questions.

Alex was happy enough to talk. She went over the same story she told Sarah in the chopper. She talked about growing up in Key West, and how her boyfriend and her had been living these last few years. The men seemed curious, but tried their hardest not to act rude. Alex finally went on eating without saying a word.

Rhodes all the meanwhile kept watching her.

Once everyone was finished and began going their own ways, Alex walked with Sarah, and Fisher.

"I'll show you more around tomorrow…"

Sarah was in the middle of saying when Rhodes walked up beside them, his rifle thrown over his shoulder. Alex noticed this and looked over as they made their way towards the exit.

"Ummm, Jim Rhodes."

Rhodes held his hand out awkwardly before Fisher and Sarah looked at each other. Funny enough…it wasn't until now that they learned Rhodes' first name.

"Hi…"

Alex shook his hand briefly before both looked each other in the eye. Rhodes right away glanced at his boots before mumbling something and falling back with the rest of the men. Alex watched him for a second before catching up with Sarah and Fisher.

"Who's that?"

Fisher rolled his eyes.

"The biggest prick you'll ever meet."

Alex looked back for a second before shrugging and walking away with them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Three months later**

Time had past quickly down in the bunker for the first time since everyone had arrived there. As strange as it sounded, Alex seemed to bring a little life down in the darkness for them. For the first few weeks she stayed close to Sarah and Fisher. She spent most of her days hanging out in the labs with them, simply sitting back and watching or reading silently to herself. For just a teenager she seemed smart enough and very interesting once you got her talking. The men like always acted like dogs. Fisher reported that he had overheard some pretty rough talk one night dealing with Alex and took Sarah aside telling her to watch her.

But it never came to that.

Alex was perfectly fine to take care of herself.

Nearly a month since she had arrived, one evening while everyone ate in the mess hall, Alex overheard Rickles making a rude remark about how much he wanted to see what was underneath those clothes of hers. For the first time since she got there, Alex no longer was the soft spoken teenager they had taken in. Throwing her plate to the side everyone jumped before Alex rushed over to his table and slapped him across the face. Everyone got ready, fingers tense on their guns before Alex took a few deep breaths, her eyes wide. Looking at everyone she threw her hands up and began to yell.

"You promised me I would be safe here? Well guess what I'm not a piece of meat, and if I ever and I mean EVER hear any of you talk about me that way again I'll fucking kill you!"

Rickles tried to nervously laugh, trying to show off to the men. That's when Alex reached forward grabbing Rickles' gun and aimed it straight at his face. She looked completely wild.

"You have no idea what I've been though…you hear me?"

Cooper and Rhodes exchanged looks yet did nothing. Rickles held up his hands in defense, nervously laughing.

"Okay! Okay Lady! Jesus take it easy!"

Alex's face crumpled before she switched the safety off and aimed the gun right at his face. Right away the others soldiers began getting nervous, sitting up and watching. Sarah was nervous herself, yet looked across and saw that John, Cooper, and Rhodes didn't seem worried at all.

"My name is Alex…not lady."

Rickles just stared up at Alex, nervous and sweating. Rhodes' voice finally broke the silence.

"I think you should say you're sorry Rickles…unless you want us to clean you're brain off the floor."

Rickles looked over at Rhodes who looked half way amused. Silently, Rickles lowered his head and mumbled that he was sorry. Watching him, completely on edge, Alex put the safety back on and handed Rickles his gun. Without saying another word, she returned to her table as everyone went back to talking and eating. The soldiers all began laughing and cracking jokes at Rickles who nervously watched Alex from across the way. Sarah meanwhile felt a million times better, for the first time ever…someone had finally stood up to them.

After dinner Alex, John, and McDermott began walking in one direction together. Sarah watched Rhodes quickly follow her.

"Ummm, Alex?"

Turning, Alex saw Rhodes walk over.

"Yeah?"

The two had barley spoken since she had started living here. Rhodes half the time pretended she wasn't there. It seemed as if Sarah was the only one that noticed whenever he was staring at her.

"I…I just wanted to say sorry about what happened over here, these guys can be real pigs."

Alex pushed back some of her hair while John and McDermott waited for her a few feet away. Rhodes stared down at his feet before clearing his throat. Before he could say anything Alex smiled before looking back at John and McDermott.

"Listen John and Billy invited me to have some drinks, wanna come?"

Rhodes looked up nearly shocked. Looking over Alex's shoulder he shot John and McDermott dirty looks before he looked back at her, half way embarrassed and not acting like the hard ass solider he usually was.

"Ummm…no thanks, I got a lot of work to do."

"All right, catch ya later Jim."

Turning, Alex walked out with the men while Rhodes simply watched. With his back facing almost everyone else he was able to smile for his a brief second.

After that Sarah began noticing how outgoing Alex was becoming. It seemed as though the moment she stood up for herself the men showed her a certain sense of respect they didn't show her. Sarah knew the real reason was because Rhodes was sweet on her and most likely warned the men. One night in bed Sarah asked Miguel and he answered…

"Yeah…we all know Rhodes has a crush on her, shame she doesn't seem that interested."

But it wasn't true.

As days slowly crawled into weeks it seemed pretty obvious that there was a shared attraction between the two. Most of the time Rhodes stayed with his men or in the offices with Cooper. Alex meanwhile hung out with everyone, mostly John and McDermott. Whenever they past each other in the corridor they always said hello and Rhodes would walk away smiling. Every night at the mess hall as everyone sat at their different tables discussing or arguing, Alex would usually be sitting between Fisher or John. Every once and awhile Sarah would catch Rhodes staring across at her, and sometimes Alex would see this herself. Most of the time she simply smiled and went on eating.

As weeks began going by Alex pitched in to help. She didn't seem bothered by the zombies and even helped twice bring them in for the labs. She was strong and began slowly getting along with everyone, counting the soldiers. Steel looked out for her like a big brother and every night after dinner Alex would play a round of cards with them. Impressing them all and seeming completely relaxed and adjusted to her surroundings. Whenever they wanted to go up top she went with them. Usually she laid out in the sun or sat around talking with the guys. She tried helping out in the labs but mostly stuck with John and McDermott. Sarah learned Alex and them shared the same theory on life and had the same relaxed and laid back attitude.

She wasn't with the military, or the scientist.

She was just like John and McDermott. Liked and disliked.

She mostly hung around with them as well. After playing cards with the soldiers she always went out with John and McDermott to drink. Sarah had no idea what the three of them did alone, but had a sense that they talked a lot and shared the same thoughts.

Alex did her own thing, she helped and seemed to be friendly with both sides.

She dressed simple, mostly T-shirts or jeans. Her hair was always up and she had a certain tomboy feel to her. She liked to cook and made jokes about the canned food they were forced to eat. She mentioned a few times that one day she would cook everyone a good old fashion meal. Once or twice she fooled around in the kitchen and one evening Sarah walked by seeing John, Fisher, and McDermott all sitting at the counter doing shots. Smiling she walked on thinking how nice indeed to have another woman around.

Alex enjoyed music as well. The one thing she loved talking about the most of music. Whenever she was anywhere that seemed to be the topic of choice with her. She explained if things hadn't happened she would of loved to go to school for it. She gushed about her old favorite bands and suspired everyone with her knowledge for almost every Motown song. Often whenever she was walking around or helping out she would softly hum or sing one of those songs while snapping her fingers.

She was happy go lucky and somehow with everything that had happened, she didn't let things get her down.

One late evening the men decided to go up top and play a game of tackle football. Sarah, Fisher, and Dr. Logan stayed down below working in the labs. John and McDermott stay in the shade drinking together and watching. Cooper stayed in the shade as well with Rhodes, mumbling about what a pain in the ass Anderson had become.

Anderson was another solider there. He was slim with very intense features. He usually kept to himself and had a very dry sense of humor. Cooper was in the middle of telling Rhodes who this was the second time this week that Anderson had started arguments with the other men. Swearing to himself he told Rhodes if this kept up he would throw Anderson's ass over the fence so those puss bags could get an easy grab at him.

Rhodes nodded in agreement while watching the men run through the tall grass, laughing and high as kites. Alex had joined them and was running past Steel with the ball in her hands. Seconds later they scored and everyone began giving high fives.

That's when Alex, still catching her breath and with a big smile on her face went over to Cooper and Rhodes. Brushing some of her fallen hair away from her face she placed her hands on her hips and looked down at them. Rhodes nearly choked on the cigarette he was smoking.

"Hey…we need some more players, you game?"

Rhodes glanced over at Cooper who simply waved his hand and went back down to his paperwork. Looking around Rhodes saw John and McDermott sitting back under one of the shacks sharing a bottle.

"Well?"

Rhodes snapped out of his thoughts before nodding.

"Yeah sure…"

Getting up Rhodes unhooked his guns from his belt and walked over. The other men were slightly suspired to see him interacting like this. Alex gave him a playful shove on the shoulder and laughed before running back over to Steel.

Rhodes meanwhile smiled watching her before for once letting his guard down and having fun. John and McDermott sat back amused as the soldiers and Alex began to play. They watched as Rhodes began to loosen up and even laughed a few times as the ball as thrown back and forth. Even once right before dark he laughed walking up to Alex and became so close that both John and McDermott looked at each other. Rhodes was trying to catch his breath before leaning over and brushing away some of Alex's fallen bangs from her face. Alex laughed looking straight at him before Miller shouted that they were playing again and they quickly went back to their positions.

All the meanwhile the zombies groaned on the other side of the fence watching them.

When Cooper yelled a few minutes after the sun had set for everyone to get going, Rhodes and Alex walked together to the platform.

From that moment onward everyone began to notice something was going on.

Rhodes for those few months really did seem to act half human. His attitude didn't seem as harsh as he seemed more relaxed. It was a shocking sight to see him smile and laugh, but the second Alex and him began getting closer…he seemed different.

He made excuses to be closer to her. Usually after dinner he would offer to walk her back to her bunk whenever she wasn't playing cards or going off with John and McDermott. Soon he began staying to play cards and always sat down beside Alex.

He liked it when she was around and the two were spotted more then once walking together.

Sarah wondered in something was in fact going on.

One evening while washing up in the showers she asked Alex who was in the middle of drying her hair what she thought of Rhodes. Smiling, Alex looked off into space and shrugged.

"I don't know…he's different I guess…"

Finally one night, when Alex was walking back from another drunken night at John and McDermott's trailer in the cave Rhodes came out of the complex and spotted her. Unable to sleep he had decided to take a walk, seeing her right away a smile spread across his face.

He called her over and he laughed at how drunk she was. Both began cracking up when he helped her inside and asked her why she found it so fun to hang out with low life's like John and McDermott. Shooting him a look Alex seemed to sober up.

"Their my friends."

"Sorry…"

Both kept walking together when Rhodes slipped his hand into hers. Looking down Alex smiled before she stopped.

"What is it?"

Alex moved forward and kissed him.

Rhodes stood back shocked before he gently touched her face and both began laughing. Kissing again it was finally official.

It was an unspoken thing after that. If anyone asked too many questions they were apt to get their head bitten off by Rhodes. He warned the men to mind their business and stay out of his. Sarah mostly out her dirt from Miguel who told her that Alex and Rhodes were in fact having an affair. Nobody knew the details, but he told her that he saw them kissing a few times after dinner and holding hands. When Sarah asked Alex about this later she just smiled and said nothing.

From the moment onward those two couldn't be separated. Alex moved into his bunk and it seemed as if almost every second they were together. Rhodes made sure they didn't put on any public shows for anyone and kept his mouth shut, but he was beyond overprotective and often watched Alex with a close eye.

Alex still did her same thing and still hung out with John and McDermott, but now that she was seeing Rhodes…things seemed different. Everyone knew they were seeing each other, and knew how much Rhodes cared for her. It seemed any time she entered a room his attitude would completely change. They sat together, walked together, and seemed to get along perfectly.

It was true…Rhodes as in love.

Often after they made love Rhodes would lay awake at night watching her sleep. Thinking back to his past, filled with so much abuse and pain…looking at Alex seemed to make all those things go away.

Things didn't happen until June.

Anderson seemed to be in the middle of a mental breakdown. Sarah had noticed his behavior and even remarked on this more then once to Cooper. As always she was snapped at and it was simply ignored. At this time Rhodes and Alex had been going out for a few months and seemed very happy. Rhodes would always hold her hand walking into the mess hall and seemed like a love struck teenager whenever she was around.

That day was a terribly hot sticky June afternoon.

Cooper and most of the men were in his office. His biggest concern was their gun powder getting damp from there and how he wanted to start storing some of their supplies up top.

John and McDermott were in the radio room together, having a good laugh as McDermott enjoyed his early morning bottle of scotch.

Sarah and Fisher were helping Dr. Logan in one of the labs.

Anderson was by himself in the mess hall uncontrollably crying. The night before he had gotten into another fight with the men and had just gotten yelled at by Cooper.

Rhodes and Alex meanwhile were walking through the caved going through some of the old bins of left over junk. Alex was digging through one as big as a bathtub throwing junk to the side. She loved looking around and seeing if there was any use for any of the things she found. Rhodes joked calling her a packrat. Watching her, Rhodes couldn't help but laugh.

"That's my girlfriend…"

He thought to himself, and then was struck odd by this comment.

Girlfriend.

He really hadn't thought of her like that until now. Thinking of the past few months together, he watched her and felt such an overwhelming sense of love it seemed almost dangerous.

He loved her.

"Oh my God!"

Alex screamed, snapping Rhodes out of his thoughts and scaring him.

"What?!"

Alex slid out of the bin and help up what looked to be a huge keyboard.

"Look!"

Alex sat on the cold concrete floor and laid the machine out in front of her. Blowing off some dust she quickly began looking for an off switch.

"What the hell is that?"

Rhodes asked kneeling and watching her. Alex looked up with excited eyes.

"It's a synthesizer!"

"A what?"

"A synthesizer! Come on it's the 80's…you have to know what one of these are?"

Rhodes really didn't hold any further interest in his life other then the military. Raising an eyebrow he shrugged.

"What is it a keyboard or something?"

"Only better! It still looks pretty new…must have been put down here before everything happened, oh God I hope it works!"

Rhodes was amused seeing her like this. He never saw her act like this before.

Just then the machine lit up, Alex grinned before grabbing a hair tie that was on her wrist and drew her hair back into a tight ponytail.

"Watch…"

Alex began to play the machine as though it was a keyboard, but instead a computer like sound began to play. Rhodes watched her fingers dance across the keys as the most upbeat and beautiful rhythm began to play. Rhodes couldn't help but smile herself.

When Alex finished she sat back before Rhodes smiled and reached across gently touching her face.

"That was beautiful babe."

Alex smiled back before Rhodes glanced down at his watch, he was all ready late for Cooper's meeting.

"Oh shit I'm late…"

"That's all right…"

Alex stood up holding the machine under her arm, it looked as if he weighed a ton.

"I'm going in the mess hall to mess around with this thing…I can't believe it still works!"

"Want me to walk you?"

"No I'm fine…see you tonight?"

Rhodes stepped closer before kissing her softly on the lips.

"Later."

Alex flashed him a smile before turning around and walking in the other direction. Her footsteps seemed to echo. Watching her, Rhodes felt very happy indeed.

He never saw Alex alive again.


	4. Chapter 4

_Fifteen minutes had past since Rhodes and Alex parted right outside of the complex. Walking back inside, Rhodes found himself never feeling so happy before in his entire life. Having been born to a strict family who rarely showed any affection he remembered running away at age fifteen and joining the military. Since then it had been his entire life. Now walking down here, cut off from the rest of the world he began to feel the weight and pressure of his life slowly begin to slip away. Ever since Alex arrived here a few months ago he knew for sure that he had fallen in love. Not being the best at relationships, he knew she was different. The two had been just started sleeping together, and he knew how quickly word spread down here. Starting to feel his temper raise, he knew if any of those idiots said anything he would kill them. Alex was special…_

_Smiling he went into Cooper's office and sat down with the rest of the men. All the while he kept thinking of Alex's beautiful sparking blue eyes._

_Alex meanwhile made the most fatal mistake of her life._

_She went into the mess hall alone._

_Feeling excited that she had found the __synthesizer, and it's excellent condition she walked down the corridor with it tucked underneath her arm and softly humming to herself._

_For the first time in awhile she felt happy._

_Ever since Ryan had died she really didn't know what she was going to do with herself. But somehow she felt safe here…she had made friends, and met Jim. Thinking of him she smiled and pushed the door open._

_The mess hall was a huge room with cave life ceilings. Alex often joked that it was the size of a football field. With her boots clicking against the pavement floor she noticed Anderson sitting at one of the tables with his head down. Stopping, Alex watched him for a second and sighed._

_Besides Steel, and Rhodes she really hadn't gotten that close with the other men. She horses around with them, and played cards almost every night…yet still she hadn't really gotten the chance to know them yet. As far as she knew Anderson had problems. He was in the middle of a "mental breakdown" as Sarah had mentioned once. And more then once as Rhodes and her laid in bed, he would often complain about how emotional Anderson was getting from the stress._

_Biting down on her bottom lip she couldn't decide whenever or not to stay. She knew she might disturb him. Thinking of John and McDermott, she had seen them in the radio room while walking in. Sighing she stuffed one of her hands in her pockets and shifted the weight of the synthesizer under her arm._

_That's when Anderson looked up, his eyes raw from crying._

"_Alex?"_

_Alex stood there for a second having no idea what to say. Taking a deep breath she looked embarrassed seeing him like this._

"_Ummm, sorry I didn't think anyone was here."_

_Anderson quickly wiped his eyes before forcing a smile._

"_No…it's okay, just having some lunch."_

_Anderson motioned towards one of the small metal trays in front of him. Holding up his fork he smiled again and motioned for her to come over._

"_I didn't want to disturb you…"_

_Suddenly Alex felt extremely uneasy. Thinking of turning around and joining up with John and McDermott didn't seem like a half bad idea._

"_Alex?"_

_Alex walked over before setting the synthesizer down on the table, Anderson looked it over._

"_What's that?"_

"_It's a synthesizer."_

"_Oh…I've seen those before, their like a piano right?"_

_Alex smiled, Anderson really didn't seem like that bad of a guy, just scared and lonely._

"_Right…I found it out in the caved with some other junk…"_

_Anderson watched her nodding, Alex noticed he was unshaven and his eyes were bloodshot. _

"_How does it work?"_

"_I'll show you…"_

_Alex turned around, her back facing Anderson as he sat watching. Leaning over, Alex blew dust away and began to turn it on when it happened._

_Anderson's face crumpled up in rage before he grabbed the metal fork in his hands and jumped up. What he saw instead of Alex was a zombie…a filthy zombie._

_The same as the ones outside…waiting to come in and eat him alive._

_Knocking his chair back it almost happened in slow motion, springing at Alex he wrapped his arm around her neck and jerked her backwards. Alex didn't even have a chance to scream._

_Her eyes bulging out, Anderson's arm wrapped tightly around her nearly choking off all of her air. Her boots skidded against the ground before Anderson raised the fork and raised it. Alex watched, trying to struggle and get away._

_That's when Anderson stabbed her in the neck._

_Alex's eyes became huge when he drove the metal right into the side of her neck with all his force. Right away dark, almost purple blood began to squirt out and spray across the floor, nearly ten feet away. Anderson grinned in the middle of his madness and twisted the fork inside her and drove it up. Alex escaped a horsed groan before he let go and let her fall to her knees._

_Alex fell down to the ground like a pile of bricks. Blood sprayed out like a fountain, first down her neck and blouse like a waterfall, then to her jeans and onto the floor. Blood gushed through her laced fingers that tried to cover the wound. Seconds later she watched as Anderson watched her, dropping the bloody fork to the ground._

"_Bitch!"_

_That's when he kicked her in the ribs._

_Alex was able to scream, blood choking up from her throat. Falling to the ground on her side she tried to protect herself as Anderson kicked her again, his voice raising as he screamed._

"_You bitch!"_

_He screamed again, driving his boot into the side of her. Doubling over, Alex held herself as more blood sprayed on the ground. Laying there she began to choke and feel blood start to drip from her mouth. Everything began to spin as she held onto herself, praying that someone would come. Laying there in her own blood she didn't know why she deserved this. After everything that had happened this would be her end? Laying there, as her legs began getting numb she stared up at Anderson and saw he had lost his mind._

_John was right…it was a mistake being here._

_At that exact moment, down the corridor Cooper stopped mid-sentence and froze. All of the men, sitting around smoking and drinking beer froze as well. Rhodes who was standing beside the maps stopped as well. That's when in the distance they heard Anderson's screams._

_Right away everyone looked at each other. That's when Cooper stood up quickly and began to run. The others followed quickly. Steel grabbed his gun and ran past everyone, making the lead._

_John and McDermott watched as the men rushed past the door, right away the two men looked at each other and knew something was wrong._

_Getting up, they followed behind._

_By the time Cooper and Steel flung the door open, everyone seemed to crash into each other in the small doorway. Cooper's cigar that he had been smoking fell from his mouth. Steel meanwhile looked in complete shock._

_That's when Rhodes pushes the men aside and came between Steel and Cooper. He froze as well._

_Anderson was sitting on one of the tables, right beside the synthesizer which was covered in blood. _

_In fact…_

_Blood was everywhere._

_It was sprayed all across the floors as if somebody had thrown buckets of red paint down. It splattered against a few of the tables and chairs. Alex meanwhile was laying in the biggest puddle of it, her clothes soaked and her head down._

"_ALEX!"_

_Rhodes screamed running as fast as he could, Steel and Cooper ran behind him._

"_ALEX!'_

_Rhodes screamed at the top of his lungs, his boots pounding on the floor. The rest of the men along with John and McDermott stood in the doorway watching._

_Rhodes nearly slipped in Alex's blood, his boots skidded for a second before he broke down on his knees and grabbed her. She laid there, slumped over like a used rag doll. The side of her neck looked as though it had been chewed open. The blood wasn't pulsing and pumping through as it had seconds ago. Instead it slowly trickled down in the sticky puddle she laid in._

_Her blouse was soaked, once a light blue…now an ugly purple. Her jeans were stained and so wasn't her skin. Streaks of blood covered her, and she looked white as a ghost, her lips and eyelids blue. Rhode's eyes bugged out as he began shaking her, completely hysterical. Cooper and Steel simply stood there before Steel looked over his shoulder and yelled to some of the men to get the doc quick. Right away most of the soldiers turned around, bumping into John and ran out…not wanting to see anymore._

_Their stomachs had turned. _

_John and McDermott slowly approached what was going on…all they could see was blood._

_Rhodes held onto Alex, begging for her to wake up. Cooper stepped closer before shaking his head._

"_She's gone captain."_

_Rhodes looked up as he gently rocked Alex's lifeless body in his arms._

_No…God couldn't be that cruel. Alex couldn't be dead._

_Looking down at her, his eyes wide and crazed he saw she was really dead. Cooper placed his hand on his shoulder before Rhodes violently stood up, shoving his hand away. Alex's body rolled to the side, half deep in her own blood. Standing, his clothes dripping and now stained he drew his pistol out and looked at Anderson who was still rocking back and forth, his hair had Alex's blood in it._

"_Captain don't!"_

_Cooper started, but Rhodes didn't care. He fired six times straight at Anderson, knocking his body down and falling into a tangle of metal chairs. The loud gunshots filled the air as Rhodes kept firing until his gun clicked empty._

_Standing there, Steel looked over and saw what Rhodes had done to Anderson, his eyes then dropped back down to Alex's mangled body. Cooper slowly and with care stepped behind Rhodes and took his gun from him. Silence now filled the room before the door swung open again and Dr. Logan, Fisher, and Sarah came running._

_Steel stood up and yelled at the rest of the men to stay out. Quickly Johnson shut the door behind them. Miguel looked in for only a brief second and thought he was going to be sick. The doctors came running, their lab coats flapping behind them._

_Sarah stopped for a second and looked at all the blood, her stomach gave an uneven shake before Fisher quickly kneeled down in the blood and felt for Alex's pulse._

_Nothing._

_Looking up, he shook his head to Cooper._

_Rhodes saw this._

"_Don't just stand there! Fucking help her!"_

_Cooper eyed Steel and watched as Dr. Logan opened his medical bag._

"_Steel…"_

_Rhodes went to run back over to Alex but Steel grabbed him and held him back. Rhodes fought, kicking up his legs before Dr. Logan produced a syringe and began to walk over._

"_Don't you crazy fuck! Let me go!"_

_Steel held him down as Dr. Logan gave him the shot. Rhodes kept fighting for another few minutes before his kicks and screams began to weaken. Seconds later Dr. Logan helped Steel place him on one of the tables._

"_He's sedated."_

_Cooper stood back sighing before rubbing his temples._

"_Take the bodies…bury them…I'll get my men to clean the mess up…"_

_Cooper turned and slowly began walking away. Sarah meanwhile stared down at Alex's body and tried to find control. She didn't want to cry…mostly in front of Steel._

_Dr. Logan asked Steel if he would help carry Rhodes to the medical bay. Steel picked Rhodes up in a single scoop and walked out with Dr. Logan in front of them._

_Fisher stood up, wiping his hands on the sides of his pants. John then stepped forward._

"_We'll get some bags from the labs…carry them up top."_

_Sarah wanted to say something, wanted to stop things from happening so fast. One of her friends were just killed…didn't anyone see that? Looking over at Anderson's body she felt sick to her stomach. Taking a deep breath she nodded._

_An hour later Miguel and Torrez were both mopping up the mess. Twice Miguel had to turn away from gagging. They blood came up easy with the mop and hot water. Soon it was just pink suds in the buckets they used. Scrubbing they tosses out the two tables that had gotten ruined along with the chairs._

_It took nearly two hours to finally clean everything up. At one point Torrez picked up the bloody fork and held it up. This made Miguel sick and he ran to one of the trash binds to throw up._

_The mess hall looked exactly the same now, as if none of these horrible things had happened just hours before. Pushing in the chairs, Torrez cracked some remark about never wanting to eat in this room again. Before leaving, pushing the mops and buckets away, Miguel motioned towards the synthesizer._

"_What about that?"_

"_Just toss it back in storage."_

_Minutes later they flicked off the lights and left everything in darkness._

_Steel, Miller, and Rickles were in charge of burying the bodies. It was nearly sunset when the graves had been dug._

_Exhausted, and hot from working in the sun, Steel spit and leaned against his shovel. Laying in the grass were two black rubber zip up bags. Alex in one…Anderson in the other._

_Just then they heard the platform start going off, turning they waited until Dr. Logan appeared…his lab coat still covered in stains._

"_How's the captain?"_

_For once the men didn't taunt Logan or call him names. Logan pushed his broken glasses up on his nose before walking over._

"_He'll be sedated until later tonight…I have Fisher and Sarah watching him."_

"_Jesus…"_

"_Cooper wants to speak with you all…I'll finish here."_

"_Yeah right old man, you'll give yourself a fucking heart attack."_

_Logan watched the beautiful sun began to change the sky's color into a deep shade of red. In the distance the zombies groaned and pressed against the fence._

"_You did most of the work…I'll destroy them as well…Cooper's orders."_

_Steel glanced at the men with a very uneasy eye before nodding. Unhooking one of his guns he handed it to Logan._

"_Just make sure in the head…that's the only way they won't come back."_

"_Don't worry, I know."_

_The men all nodded in agreement before dropping the shovels and walking to the platform. Seconds later the beeping filled the air and they were gone._

_Logan stood looking at the two body bags, before watching the sun set._


	5. Chapter 5

Right before Rhodes was sedated the last image that he saw before everything turned to darkness was Alex's dead body. Seconds later he was knocked back into a numbing black hole while what little remains of sanity slowly crumbled apart. It all happened so quickly. All he could remember was standing in Cooper's office reading the maps hung on the wall and trying to figure where the next chopper run should be. Cooper meanwhile sat back in his chair smoking his cigar and went on about storage of their weapons and gun powder. Rhodes remembered having that rhythm play over and over again in the back of his mind while he studied the miles and circled certain locations with his pen.

He had really started thinking about Alex and him and he knew that he was really falling in love. He hoped somehow he would figure out a way to leave this place. In the back of his mind he could see himself flying away, somewhere less depressing and a place where he didn't have to be the strong fighter he had to be here. Someplace where just Alex and him were…

That's when they heard Anderson's faint yelling and screams.

Rhodes didn't know what was going on until he pushes past the others and stood between Steel and Cooper. It took a second for his eyes to fix and all he could see was blood.

Everything after that was a blur.

Now Rhodes slept in the medical bay as Sarah sat across from him with Fisher by her side. A lot had happened in the last couple of hours.

Anderson had killed Alex…and now both of them were dead.

The details were unclear but just a half an hour ago after Dr. Logan returned from up top after burying both bodies that Cooper gathered everyone in the hall and told them what had happened.

He explained that Anderson had in fact killed Alex. That he must of snapped and that Rhodes had shot him. Both bodies were taken care of and he wanted to speak with Rhodes the second he woke up. He told everyone what a terrible thing it was, but to go about things in their normal fashion.

Sarah couldn't believe what she had just heard.

One of his own men had just murdered that young girl in cold blood. Wasn't he going to say anything more?

Sarah excused herself to the ladies room and felt sick. Splashing cold water on her face she stared at her drained reflection and sighed. Trying her hardest not to cry she breathed deeply.

With everything that was going on outside…how could this have happened?

Images of the blood splattered mess hall kept appearing in front of her. Feeling a terrible dread of sorrow fill the pit of her stomach she thought of Alex.

Back when they first found her on the beach, sitting down with her dead boyfriend in her arms. Thinking back at the brief period that she was there Sarah felt awful. Somehow…things had been different. She brought life down here and made Sarah feel better about herself. She was no longer the only woman and all eyes were off her for once. Alex was someone to talk to…someone who understood.

Now she was dead.

Thinking of Rhodes she shook her head. She didn't much like him or the way he treated everyone…still she knew how much he cared about her. Thinking back to all those times she saw them walking and laughing together. The few times she saw them leaning outside of the bunks, her arms around his neck as they kissed. The looks they gave each other whenever they crossed paths. The way Alex would smile whenever anyone mentioned his name. She remembered all those times and then how badly he had reacted today.

He shot Anderson as if he was some animal.

Walking back in a few minutes later she rubbed the goosebumps out of her arms and sat beside Fisher.

"Any change?"

"Not a peep, he won't be awake for awhile now…"

"Is he in shock?"

Fisher shrugged.

"Too hard to tell."

Sarah glanced up at Fisher and for a brief moment smiled. Moments later Cooper walked in, hands on his hips.

"How is he doing?"

"Better I suppose…heart rate went down."

"He won't be awake until the morning…"

"I'll sit with him then, I should tell him."

"Major Cooper…"

Fisher started but Cooper walked past him.

"Not another word, now leave."

Sarah and Fisher glanced at each other before silently leaving. Cooper took a seat right across from Rhodes and watched him.

Sarah met Miguel who was walking down to the bunks with the rest of the guys.

"Hey…"

Miguel turned, almost on edge.

"You okay?"

"Yeah…fine…the guys want to have a drink together."

"Oh…I understand."

"How's Rhodes?"

"Better, still asleep…Cooper is sitting with him."

Miguel simply nodded and walked in the opposite direction. Standing there feeling completely alone, Sarah turned around and went to bed.

That entire night she had horrible nightmares of what had happened.

In the morning Cooper was there when a very groggy Rhodes woke up. Right away the reality hit him and he at attempted to crawl out of bed. Cooper stopped him and very patiently told Rhodes what had happened. Rhodes stared at him, sitting up in bed. His face in shock. When Cooper finished he asked Rhodes if he was going to be all right.

Rhodes stared ahead at empty space.

"She's…really gone?"

Cooper nodded.

"You buried her?"

"Yes…last night, I'm very sorry."

Rhodes just sat there dumbstruck before lowering his head. He didn't cry…he simply just sat there saying nothing. Cooper watched him for a while before Dr. Logan came in to check on him. At first Rhodes violently shoved his hands away, finally Cooper stood and put a stern hand on his shoulder.

"She's dead Rhodes, get a hold of yourself."

Right before Rhodes' eyes he saw Alex's lifeless bloody body in his arms. Feeling totally helpless and not being able to save her. Watching her die…after knowing fate that brought her here…perhaps it was true, maybe they were all that was left. Now as life on Earth slowly flickered out…his one chance at happiness was gone. Hearing the rhythm play over and over again in his head, Rhodes held back and didn't cry.

Crying was a sign of weakness.

Thinking of how he blew Anderson away, he wished he had really gotten his hands on him.

That's when his stomach turned and he bent over and threw up. Dr. Logan explained to Cooper it was just the shock setting in. Minutes later he was sedated again for the rest of the day.

Sarah meanwhile felt terrible after what happened. Instead of their usual dinner time, Cooper canceled it and told everyone to do their own thing for the night and to leave Rhodes alone to rest. Fisher took over in watching Rhodes while Dr. Logan locked himself up in his lab.

The soldiers mostly sat around, smoking and toasting beers in Alex's name. Cooper meanwhile poured himself a tall drink and settled in for bed.

Sarah meanwhile took the elevator up after asking Cooper if she could pay her last respects. Cooper shrugged before turning in and told her John and gone up almost an hour ago. Going up herself, Sarah saw it was nearly sunset.

She couldn't believe a whole day had past.

There she met John who was kneeling at the freshly dug grave. Slowly approaching, John turned and gave her a very comforting smile.

"Hello Sarah daddy."

Sarah tried to smile before walking over, in the faint distance the zombies groaned watching them. Looking down at the grave Sarah sighed. Buried a few feet under was Alex. Shaking her head she couldn't understand how this had happened. Standing there for a good ten minutes with John in complete silence, finally John turned around and headed back for the platform. Sarah watched him before joining up. Looking at his face she saw how sad his eyes were.

"What are you thinking about?"

Right before they lowered themselves John glanced over at Alex's grave.

"Just thinking about what a waste of life that was…"

Before Sarah could say anything they lowered themselves into the darkness.

Rhodes woke the next day still groggy. Cooper had taken him alone into his offices and when Rhodes came out he looked completely made out of stone. His eyes were darker and showed no emotion. The soldiers knew better and kept their distance. Rhodes walked straight over to Alex's room and took his key ring out. Locking the door he looked in through the small glass window at the dark room and turned around.

Nobody went in there after that.

Rhodes didn't say much in the new few weeks. Cooper had warned the men not to mention it and they didn't. It seemed like some terrible secret nobody could repeat or say. Almost everyday, most of all when they began having dinner again at the mess hall, it was on everyone's mind.

But Rhodes somehow grew meaner as the days went on. He didn't want to be bothered and started snapping. He followed Cooper, and often ordered the others around. Soon his meanness turned him into an empty shell that had no respect for anyone.

He didn't even go to her grave.

The men knew better then to bring it up. Miguel told Sarah about Cooper speaking with all of them and giving them a good warning of ever bringing it up in front of Rhodes. He also mentioned that everyone kept wondering that made Anderson snap in the first place. They all knew he was messed in the head, but how could he attack Alex like that?

Soon things began going back to normal.

The men followed orders, got drunk, and began picking on the others worse then ever. Cooper simply stood back and watched it happen, often ignoring the pleads for help. He simply sat back in his office, smoking his cigars and didn't care.

They sat in the mess hall night after night eating and arguing. Rhodes often said nothing and glared at everyone.

Time began to crawl down in the dark depressing hole they now lived in.

Sarah began getting depressed once summer ended. Winter would mark the forth year they had been down here. Four years since in all senses the world had indeed ended. Four years of being trapped down here with these idiots and being completely helpless.

Sarah threw herself into her work, hoping that somehow…just somehow there could be a way to stop this madness.

The tension grew worse between the soldiers and between Miguel and Sarah. Often late at night she noticed he wasn't sleeping, when he did he often had nightmares and tossed and turned. He began drinking and seemed on edge whenever she touched him. She knew he was on his way to the breaking point…just like Anderson had. She was worried, yet couldn't understand nor reach him. The sex between them was good…but he didn't show her respect. He never stuck up for her and took the cruel jokes the other men threw out at him.

Sarah couldn't stand it.

Rhodes had completely changed since Alex's death. He was now worse then ever. He worked the men to the bone and often like Cooper ignored whenever they were starting up things with the others. He stayed close to Cooper and simply loved the thrill of controlling. Whenever he did speak it was putting down someone. Snapping or yelling. Sarah could tell all that grief was bottled up inside of him and slowly turning him into a monster.

Sarah began to have nightmares herself.

Nightmares of those horrible things coming in and eating her alive.

They did helicopter sweeps twice a week, usually one of the men joined Sarah, John, and McDermott. They rode up and down the coast, just as they did when they found Alex.

But they found nothing.

Hours upon hours they would fly over the empty swap land or deserted cities. They would search for any sign of life.

But always came back empty handed.

McDermott told them he hadn't gotten anyone on the radio since last winter.

The scientist were trying their hardest to use the zombies for research, but Sarah felt helpless. Dr. Logan seemed to be cracking himself and wasted their time with his odd and mad experiments. She knew it was only a matter of time before they were shut down and turned on each other.

Things were going to hell.

All the meanwhile, Alex's room stayed locked.

It wasn't until the end of October that things had happened.


	6. Chapter 6

Two weeks before the horrible events that would take place in the bunker happened…Sarah made the biggest mistake of her life. It was nearing the end of October, even though down in the swamps it felt like it was a million degrees up top. Down in the bunker though…there was a certain chill that seemed to take over the air. A terrible cold chill that filled the caves and complex, a chill that blew around late at night over the low moans and groans of those zombies who wandered around in the darkness.

Things with Miguel were going awful. Sarah and him were no longer sleeping together, Miguel couldn't seem to handle that anymore. Instead he often sat awake at night, holding his rifle and jumping at any noise. Sarah was worried and thought all of this pressure wasn't good for him. She didn't want the same thing that had happened with Anderson happen to him. She knew he wasn't perfect…but she still cared enough for him.

Cooper seemed to have gained an extra ten pounds during the last few months. Now he simply sat in his office smoking and making wise remarks whenever somebody tried to come forward with a problem. He ordered his men around, but nothing seemed to make sense. Most of the time it was just them sitting around wasting the hours away.

Sarah kept trying to work, often whenever she wasn't doing chopper sweeps, which now seemed completely pointless, she worked in her lab. Hours upon hours would go by in which she would hunch over her desk and work away at the empty and endless questions. The only person she truly got to talk to during the days were Fisher, who's lab was right beside hers. Both agreed nothing seemed to be working…but of the men got any sense that they were wasting their time…the worst might happen.

Things were slowly falling apart.

The soldiers were getting worse. They often walked around the complex as if they owned it. Drinking and getting high, yelling horrible things out at Sarah and making dirty jokes. They were all fools in her mind. Just stupid ugly fools that happened to maybe be the last people on Earth with her. It often made her sick watching them…knowing they were in control.

She was glad to have Fisher, John, and McDermott.

Yet John and McDermott seemed like such a mystery.

Other then flying the chopper twice a week and screwing around with the radios they kept to themselves. They showed up every night for dinner, and ever took any of the bullshit that the men tried to taunt them with. Instead they kept out of things and stayed off on their own. Sarah just couldn't understand and often got angry watching them.

She wished she was that carefree, not getting worried as she had become. She wished she could understand them…most of all John.

Sarah began to think of perhaps breaking things off with Miguel. She wasn't happy anymore and started looking at Fisher in a different way. He was handsome, smart, and kind…things Miguel weren't. She knew he was interested, but was afraid of the backfire that would come down here. It was true…word traveled fast. She didn't want to be known as the woman who jumped from man to man. She didn't want anymore remarks or comments that she had gotten so used to. She hated the way they looked at her and deep down inside hated Alex for dying and leaving her to be the only woman left.

Often late at night she had nightmares that she was in fact the only woman left. Thinking of the men she was stuck with, horrible thoughts of rape appeared in her mind. Other then John, Fisher, and McDermott they all disgusted her…counting Miguel. She knew if it ever came to that she would kill herself.

But she tried holding onto any sign of hope. There had to be other people…there just had to be.

So she worked, and worked, and worked.

The soldiers were getting worse lately, just this past week they had started three arguments in which ended with a huge fist fight in which Cooper had to break up. All the meanwhile Rhodes sat back watching.

Sarah was worried but didn't want to show it. The night that she did made her mistake she was working late in her lab. Fisher had poked his head in wishing her a good night. Smiling she wished him the same and began to wonder what it would feel like to kiss him.

Pushing those thoughts away she tried to focus on her work.

That's when she heard a loud noise. Freezing she looked up at the clock and saw it was nearly midnight. Everyone had either turned in or were in the mess hall dealing out cards and drinking. Feeling for the safely of her gun she silently walked out and down the dark corridor.

She approached the bunks, doors lining each side of the walls to their rooms. She then stopped in front of one.

Alex's.

Nobody had been in there since the accident.

Stopping, she then heard a faint moan of a cry. Slowly pushing the door open she walked in and let her eyes adjust to the darkness.

Rhodes was sitting on the bed.

He had thrown things across the room in a fit of rage. Alex's trunk where she kept her clothes had been flung over and so wasn't the empty desk. Things were scattered all over the floor in a huge mess. Rhodes meanwhile sat on her unmade bed drinking straight from the bottle. From the smell of it, it seemed to be the same liquor they kept in storage…the same McDermott drank.

"Rhodes?"

Rhodes looked up, his eyes bloodshot and tired. Looking at her, his bangs fell before his eyes and he looked completely lost.

"Lady leave me alone…"

He said, trying to look away. Sarah watched him, slightly uneasy before shutting the door behind her and pulling down the shade. She knew he wouldn't of wanted his men or anyone else to see him like this. Pausing she stood there with him in the darkness of the room completely alone.

Sarah never liked Rhodes, even when Alex was alive. She thought he was exactly the same as the other men, filthy pigs who were nothing but controlling monsters. She knew Alex's death had hit him hard and took away any remains of a heart he had left. Now that was left was a cocky, mean, and controlling bastard. They never showed each other respect, nor even paid any further mind to each other. Now here she was, watching him in a drunken fit of rage, thrashing the room of the one woman that really truly understood him.

Sighing Sarah walked over and saw Rhodes' arm was bleeding. Looking over she saw he had cut himself while throwing the lamp that sat on the desk that was now thrown over. Slowly approaching him, she pointed to the blood.

"That looks bad…let me take a look."

"Fuck of lady."

Rhodes snapped before taking another swig from his bottle. Standing there feeling her temper raise Sarah then threw her hands back.

"Fine! Bleed all over the place, see what I care!"

Sarah went to turn when Rhodes called out after her.

"Sarah wait."

Sarah froze.

This was the first time he had ever called her by her first name. Slowly turning she looked at him.

He was a mess.

Rhodes looked down at himself before his sad and almost dead eyes met hers.

"I…I just miss her okay? I can't say anything in front of the men because…well they expect something from me or something…"

His words trailed off before he breathed deeply, his chest raising and falling. Sarah watched him and felt pure pity go through her. She didn't like Rhodes, yet understood where he was coming for. For a brief moment she saw the real human being inside that empty shell.

"Let me clean up that cut…come on."

Sarah waited before Rhodes nodded. Standing up, slightly unbalanced he took a second before taking a look around the room and letting out a dry humorless laugh.

"Look at this fucking mess…"

"It's okay, come on…"

Sarah lead him out and he followed, shutting the door behind them and locking it. Following her, they went into her lab. Sarah made sure the door was locked behind them. She knew how people talked and she knew that Rhodes didn't want to be seen like this from anyone walking by.

"Take a seat…"

Sarah said before walking over to the first aid kit. Rhodes sat down on one of the stools near the counter and looked around the lab with curious eyes.

"So…what the fuck do you do in here anyways?"

"Research."

Sarah said, feeling annoyed before she came over with the kit. Grabbing her own stool she wheeled over in front of him and began taking things out in neat order. Rhodes watched without saying anything.

Sarah then began to clean the cut while Rhodes watched.

She wanted to comment on Miguel's behavior, but she knew with Cooper still in charge it wouldn't make any difference. Also Rhodes seemed to be pretty drunk, and she knew before the morning he wouldn't remember any of this. Sarah got the gauze out and began wrapping the side of his arm gently. Finally her eyes lifted and met his. Quickly she looked down.

Rhodes sighed.

Seconds later Rhodes's hand reached over and touched her breast. Sarah stopped before looking down, she couldn't believe it. Looking up at Rhodes her eyes filled with rage.

"What are you doing?"

Rhodes then leaned forward and covered his mouth with hers. He tasted like strong liquor. Sarah pulled back, disgusted before wiping her mouth.

"What the hell was that?"

Rhodes looked at her, his eyes studying hers.

That's when he kissed her again. Sarah sat back stunned, yet let it happen. Moments later both were standing, Sarah leaned down kissing him back, feeling his rough lips press against hers. Before she knew it both fell back on the cold floor, kissing each other in a fury of panic.

Sarah felt as if she couldn't breath. Looking up at the flicking ceiling lights she tossed her head back and forth. She wasn't like this…she couldn't stop it.

Rhodes laid on top of her, his lips roughly kissing hers. Sarah shut her eyes and began to moan, she couldn't stop it. Somehow him kissing and touching her made all this terrible worry seem to disappear. Seconds later Rhodes unhooked his belt buckle.

Ten minutes later Rhodes was standing again and tucking in his shirt. Sarah meanwhile still sat on the floor trying to button up her blouse. Rhodes turned towards her, his eyes serious.

"Not a word of this to anyone lady…I mean it."

Sarah then knew the old Rhodes had returned. Saying nothing he turned and left.

Sarah sat alone. Feeling a chill she gently rubbed her arms and looked around at the lab. She felt disgusted and sick. Rubbing her face she couldn't believe she had let this happen. Standing she shuffled to the showers and scrubbed herself clean. Once she returned to her bunk Miguel was there, sitting awake and smoking a cigarette.

"What took you so long?"

Sarah was in the middle of drying her hair. She felt nervous and her stomach rolled.

"Just worked late, then took a shower…"

Sarah changed for bed and laid down in her bunk while Miguel laid awake, his rifle laying across his lap.

Laying there in the darkness Sarah kept thinking of Rhodes just an hour earlier. How the two of them had sex on the lab floor without even thinking. It made her sick. Turning over so Miguel couldn't look at her, she faced the wall and tried her hardest to push those images away from her mind.

That night she didn't sleep.

Rhodes meanwhile silently went back to Alex's room and began to pick up. He was still very drunk and his head pounded. Turning back the desk and picking up the broken remains of the lamp, within an hour the room was clean again. Putting the last things away, he looked at her clothing and felt a terrible chill.

Bringing one of her blouses up to his face he could still smell the faint clean smell of soap from them. He remembered how sweet she smelled whenever he nuzzled against her neck or kissed her. With serious eyes he locked everything away and stood back feeling dizzy.

"Jesus…she was just a kid…what was I thinking?"

He thought to himself.

How could he have known that she was his soul mate. They had only known each other for a few months and just started sleeping together. Leaning against a wall he shut his eyes and felt his temples pound. Thinking of all that blood splattered around he took a deep breath and then thought of Sarah.

Shaking his head he shut the door behind him and flicked off the lights.

The next day Sarah thought things were going to be awkward. Going to the mess hall for her morning coffee she saw John and McDermott all ready sitting down and finishing their breakfast.

Steel, Miller, and Rhodes sat at another table talking.

Sarah felt her heart pound before she went over and began making herself a cup. She had no idea her hands were shaking. Standing there she felt as though they were staring at her. Glancing over at John, he tipped her a friendly wink which made her feel better. Pouring sugar into her cup she nearly jumped when Rhodes walked over.

The two stood side by side as Rhodes reached over and refilled his empty cup. Sarah sat nothing as he returned to his seat.

He pretended she wasn't even there.

Sighing with relief Sarah quickly went back to the lab.

All the meanwhile, John watched.

Rhodes sat back down between Steel and Miller. They were in the middle of yet another heated decision about supplies. Cooper lately had really been lacking off and Rhodes felt his temper beginning to build, knowing if he was in charge there wouldn't be so much bullshitting and wasting of time.

He watched Sarah cross the room and leave.

Thinking of the night before it mostly was a blur. He remembered drinking too much and then meeting up with her. He never really paid Sarah any further mind before, in fact he really didn't much like her. She was just like the others…just like Logan, a nut job who thought she was better then everyone just because she had brains. He didn't find her that attractive and had no idea how a bitch like her was still down here with them. She was nothing like Alex…not even in a long shot.

But he did faintly remember the sex. It wasn't that successful due to his drinking, and he remembered how she clung onto him as he finished and cried out. Feeling a bitter taste in his mouth he felt guilty. He hoped she wouldn't say anything…if she did he knew his temper was getting to the point the might do something to shut her up. Going back to talking with the men, he still kept thinking back to the night before.


	7. Chapter 7

Sarah stood in the empty bathroom and stared at her pale reflection. It was November now and today had been very unsuccessful. Earlier she had gone with the others from another chopper sweep. Yet again, as always they found nothing but the dead. Hope was slowly starting to fade away from everyone and it seems as if things were finally falling apart. Miguel was on edge and Sarah had just sedated him. She knew her relationship with him was shattered and it finally dawned on her that she never truly did have feelings for him. She just simply cared for him, trying her hardest to keep busy and worry about everyone else. Now as time was slowly beginning to crawl she saw how hopeless things had become. The dead had really taken over. Any hope in the research she was doing seemed useless. She was terrified that the military, who was all ready on the verge of turning on them would discover there would never be a cure…it was really all over.

Cooper was dead.

Sarah was stunned by this when she returned and saw his grave. John's words as he whispered in her ear sent chills down her spine.

"And then there were twelve…"

Rhodes was no in charge and the two had just gone face to face in the mess hall. Sarah hated Rhodes and couldn't believe how stupid she had been that fateful night they spent together in her lab. Most of it really seemed like a blur. It disgusted her knowing she had let her guard down like that. But since then Rhodes barley spoke to her. Mostly he ordered everyone around and made rude off color comments to Sarah and the others. He pretended he was so tough, pretended that Sarah was nothing but a piece of meat. He often taunted her and treated her like a piece of trash. Sarah felt terrible that she had let him have his way with her.

She tried to understand that Rhodes couldn't help it. That Alex's death had shattered any remaining traces of him being human. If he had ever had a heart…it broke into a million pieces when Alex was killed. He now was just an empty shell that wanted revenge on anything living. The power had gone to his head and Sarah couldn't stand it.

She knew it was just a matter of time before things fell apart.

She was outraged by Dr. Logan and felt sick to her stomach thinking about what she had discovered. She was terrified that the soldiers would find out. She could see it now, them finding Copper's body and turning on them. Not understanding how crazy Logan really was. She could see them feeding them to the dead up top. Laughing as they torn their bodies apart in the hot sun. Shivering, Sarah rubbed her arms and tried to find control.

Tonight there would be a meeting.

Rubbing her face she saw how awful she looked. Her mind seemed to be spinning.

Then…

She thought about what had been on her mind. The thing that had been worrying her the most. Doing the math in her head she felt sick to her stomach. She wasn't sure yet, but felt completely helpless if it was true. She had no idea who she could turn to. Perhaps John?

Thinking of Fisher she knew that was her safest bet. Maybe he could help her.

But she didn't know yet.

She knew she had to find out…it was the only way.

Taking a deep breath she tied her hair back tight in a ponytail and thought of the nightmare she had earlier on the chopper. All those horrible rotting hands bursting out of the wall to grab her. Taking a deep breath she turned around and headed out.

That night she finally stood up to Rhodes.

She couldn't believe what he was doing.

He pointed his gun at her and told her to sit down. Sarah couldn't believe how crazy he was acting. In the end she sat down, angry and stunned. Rhodes made it clear to everyone that he wasn't screwing around. That he was in charge and that the scientist had a limited amount of time.

Sarah sat back not saying a word until Logan came in. Moments later she watched Rhodes loose his mind on him, all the while she sat back thinking about what had been worrying her. It made her sick to her stomach.

Walking out with Fisher she kept saying how she couldn't believe Rhodes would of really done it. There John proved a good point…he wouldn't of done it…he would have had Steel do it.

Warning them, Sarah watched him walk away feeling empty.

That night Miguel let her.

Sitting in her empty bunk, she lowered her head and cried.


	8. Chapter 8

"_You want to put some kind of explanation down here before you leave? Here's one as good as any you're likely to find. We're being punished by the creator. He visited a curse on us men to see what Hell was like. Maybe didn't want to see us blow ourselves up and put a big hole in his sky. Maybe he just wanted to show us he was still the boss man…maybe he figured we were getting too big for our britches. Trying to figure his shit out."_

The morning before everything happened Sarah visited John and told him the terrible thing she had been worrying about these past few weeks. Taking a deep breath she confessed she was pregnant. John stood in his comfy trailer while McDermott was off rounding up a fresh bottle of whiskey. Sarah was ordered to help Miguel and the others round up for zombies for Dr. Logan in less then an hour. John stared at her before asking if it was Miguel's?

Sarah lowered her head in shame and slowly shook her head.

"Fisher then?"

Sarah had to give a dry humorless laugh at this. Fisher would be the next choice. Instead she took a deep breath and looked straight into her friend's wise eyes.

"It's Rhodes."

John said nothing for a moment, Sarah fought everything inside her not to cry.

"It was a mistake, only once…"

"Are…you sure?"

Sarah quickly nodded.

"I took three tests, I'm positive."

"Have you told him?"

Sarah's eyes widened.

"Are you crazy?! Do you have any idea what he would do to me?"

John simply shook his head.

"You don't want it do you?"

"No…I want an abortion. I might get Fisher to do it. I know he'll keep his mouth shut."

"Then why tell me Sarah daddy? Why?"

"Because…you're my friend."

John nodded at this. It was true.

But Sarah never got her chance to speak with Fisher. Instead she left John's, promising him that she would come by afterwards and talk with him. She told him that she knew this was the right choice. This was a terrible mistake that happened with a terrible person. Just thinking of it made Sarah sick to her stomach. Patting her shoulder, John told her everything would be all right.

But it wasn't.

In less then an hour there was an accident. One of the zombies Miguel was handling got loose and was the cause of Miller and Johnson's death. Getting bit himself his half crazed eyes looked at Sarah before screaming at the top of his lungs.

"I DIDN'T DO IT!"

Screaming he ran away as Sarah chased him. Moments later she stopped him at John's which was half way across the cave. Knocking him out Sarah worked quickly and cut off his bitten arm. John and McDermott helped before shouts of the soldiers filled the air.

Steel, Rickles, and Rhodes appeared.

Just seeing him made Sarah want to puke. Flashes of that night in the lab kept going through her head as she stood in front of Miguel and refused to let them shoot him.

They left, letting them know that they were kicking them out of the complex. Leaving Sarah watched Rhodes go and for no reason at all burst into tears. John held her, trying to him comfort…being the only one who truly understood why she was breaking down.

An hour later Miguel was in the trailer and resting. Sarah and McDermott were going to sneak into the lab for more supplies.

"Sarah…he might not make it you know?"

Sarah looked down at Miguel with pity before sighing.

"I know. At least this way we would of given him a chance."

At the lab Sarah tried to stay busy searching for bottles in the darkness as McDermott looked around. There they found the more horrifying discovery ever. Listening to Dr. Logan's tapes Sarah then understood they had been working beside a madman this entire time.

"Let's get out of here. Something tells me we better take that chopper before someone else does!"

Both Sarah and McDermott raced out before seeing Dr. Logan enter his lab. Both silently followed him and watched from the glass window as he taught his zombie "Bub" Sarah did have to agree…it truly was amazing.

"Now it's time for your reward."

Dr. Logan placed a tin bucket in front of the human like zombie as it's grayish hands dug in and began taking out bloody chunks.

McDermott squinted.

"What is that? Is that?"

Sarah felt her stomach toss. Suddenly it all became perfectly clear.

"It can't be…oh God…"

Sarah went to turn before knocking right into Rhodes. Grabbing her by her shoulders he shoved her to the side before looking in the window. Steel and Rickles were behind with their guns. Rhodes stared in as the zombie let the blood drip down his chin happily.

"Goodnight Bub."

Flicking off the lights, Logan ran right into Rhodes and his darkened eyes.

"What are you giving him Frankenstein? Huh? What is it?"

Rhodes grabbed Logan's hand and saw the blood all over his gloves.

Forcing Logan, Sarah, and McDermott by gunpoint, they went to the walk-in freezer Logan used. Rickles opened the door as the cold air drifted out. There Rhodes stood in the doorway with stunned eyes.

Miller, Johnson, and Alex all laid there.

Rhodes' eyes fixed on Alex. Her remains were frozen solid and bluish gray. Chunks were cut out of her skin where tiny crystals formed on the purple colored flesh.

Rhodes stared at her, his mind completely snapping. Laying there was the woman he once loved.

The rhythm slowly played softly in the back of his mind.

His face crumpling, he turned as Dr. Logan begged him to listen.

"Captain You must Listen You must!"

"Listen to this!"

Rhodes unloaded his machine gun into Logan as he blew apart and fell backwards into the freezer. Sarah felt as though she would throw up but was stopped. Just then Fisher ran in after hearing the noise.

"Hold it Fisher! Torrez get his gun."

Torrez began taking everyone guns as Rhodes turned around. Sarah saw he had lost his mind.

"Take all of them, take all their fucking guns!"

Rhodes' eyes then fixed on Sarah before he gripped his hands on her. Roughly he tore her belt and gun off.

"Those are my men in there. My men! THOSE ARE MY MEN IN THERE!"

Steel began taking them away, Sarah glanced over her shoulder and saw Rhodes silently kneeling down beside Alex's remains.

Being lead into the caves, Rhodes joined them and held everyone by gunpoint calling for John. When John appeared McDermott warned him that he killed Logan in cold blood.

"I killed Logan because he was a killer!"

There Rhodes explained that him and his men were getting out of here. He ordered John to fly them. When John refused Rhodes simply shot Fisher right in the head. The shot echoed through the caves.

"NOOOO!"

Sarah was outraged and began to fight as Steel lead her and McDermott into the trappings towards the cave where the zombies were.

"Don't Rhodes please don't!"

John begged.

"And why not?"

"Because…"

John stared at Sarah's helpless eyes as Steel loaded and her McDermott in.

"Because she's pregnant!"

The men exchanged looks of confusion before John saw no emotion in Rhodes.

"She's pregnant with your baby. Please show mercy man!"

Rhodes' face twitched for a moment.

"Bullshit."

"I swear to God I'm telling the truth, I swear."

Rhodes' eyes drifted over to Sarah for a moment before he shook his head.

"You lie flyboy."

That's when Steel opened the trap. Sarah and McDermott stayed there for a moment before knowing if they didn't move they would be torn apart. Low groans from the zombies slowly approaching filled the air. Grabbing a piece of wood, the two began running off into the darkness.

Rhodes yelled after them…and that was the last time either of them saw each other.


End file.
